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WATCHING THE NEWS LASTWEEK
, the brutality
in Gaza, the tragedy in Ukraine, I reflected on
the little bubble I live in. It’s easier in the bubble.
The brutality, horror and carelessness that
exists outside seems so overpowering and
huge. Despair poised, ready to envelop and
suffocate. Some call this depression and give
you pills and/or CBT. Some self-medicate, losing
themselves in their dependencies. I cling on,
just about, to the belief that in my bubble I can
find new paths to tread.
But can I ignore what’s happening outside?
Surely what we say, what we do has to be
rooted in an attempt to alter fundamental inequalities? Or else, just in terms
of my own self-interest, where can I go, how will I recover? How will I be at
ease when all the taking notice I do tells me that I live in an asylum that’s
making me and all the other inmates sicker?
In July’s
DDN
I suggested that it’s the sick and the afflicted that bring
warnings, answers and healing in a world ravaged by the sane. Not a new
concept but I thought it useful to throw out into a treatment and recovery
world which often seems to view success as assimilation back into normal
society, back into the consumerist/materialist bubble. I was trying to say
that for me recovery, co-production and ABCD isn’t about empowering
communities to become new producers, consumers and responsible
partners in a neo-liberal landscape.
It isn’t about attacking the welfare state and the working-class people
that make it work. It isn’t about being praised by politicians and welcomed
back into the fold. ABCD is a tool (be careful with tools) to enable
individuals and communities to discover or re-discover their power, their
agency and capacity to become change-makers. My kind of recovery is
liberation, empowerment and social justice. I believe we should start
talking about the kind of change we want to bring about, the sort of world
we want to live in. I think it’s time to pull recovery from the reductive
treatment ghetto and perhaps start to leave our little bubbles behind.
Which is why the UKRF is promoting and supporting recovery month in
September – a month which will make recovery more visible all over the UK
and perhaps support a rejection of our default deficit thinking. It will be a
month that will focus on community strengths and resilience. We want to
celebrate and promote the passion, wisdom and strengths that exist in
families, neighbourhoods and communities and nurture relationships within
and across communities. We want to write new inclusive and hopeful stories.
Recovery month 2014 is shaping up. Writing this I’m aware of 37 events
in the UK and the list is growing every day. Alongside the UK recovery walk
in Manchester on 13 September there will be walks in Ireland, Scotland and
Wales and local walks in other places. There will be festivals, film shows,
workshops, cricket matches, parties, all sorts of stuff, big and small – lots of
people coming together to share, learn and have fun. Lots of people
stretching their bubbles, perhaps even stepping outside for a while. Making
the path as they walk it.
Recovery month 2014 events: http://bit.ly/1xJqgN0
Recovery month 2014 t-shirts details here: http://bit.ly/1qPbVkz
Alistair Sinclair is UKRF director
August 2014 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 19
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Conference report |
Voices of recovery
their partner’s addiction, but are then faced with the significant prejudice that
still surrounds homosexuality.
‘To raise awareness of support available you have to go out and engage with
these communities directly. This is why after taking part in today’s event I will be
helping DHI promote their support services at the Bristol Pride festival in July.’
Many of DHI’s family practitioners have raised the issue of it being difficult to
persuade clients of the benefits of group support. Another workshop gave those
who have been reluctant to attend groups the chance to experience a taster of
how they work without committing to actively participating.
One carer commented, ‘I had never felt comfortable enough about what was
going on in my life to join one of the groups. I thought it would all be too raw.
But I’m now more open to it, and can see it might be something I’ll benefit from
in the future.’
Keynote speaker John Taylor shared his own personal experiences of addiction
and its impact on others. ‘Events such as these are vital to both the families and
support communities dealing daily with issues of addiction,’ he said.
‘So often they feel isolated, unclear of how to proceed and silenced by the
stigma they perceive to be attached to this widespread and indiscriminate
disease.’
A longtime supporter of DHI, Taylor spoke frankly about his own struggles
and the value of support from services and peer support groups. ‘A day like today
is important because people need encouragement. One of the big problems is
acknowledging the problem, that’s the first thing. And then knowing there are
solutions out there and connecting people is a big part of it too.’
DHI runs families services across Bath and North East Somerset, South
Gloucestershire and Bristol, and the event was supported by South Gloucestershire
Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council and Rotork. www.dhi-online.org.uk
The 2014 Adfam/DDN Families First conference will be held on 23 October in
London, aimed at helping to equip family members and those who support them
to deal with the challenges of addiction within the family. For more information
visit www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
The majority of participants
also had no idea that
support for families and
carers was available,
even after numerous
meetings with their local
GP or hospital.
VOICES OF RECOVERY
BECOMING
CHANGE-MAKERS
It’s time to leave our little bubbles and make
recovery visible, says
Alistair Sinclair